Shadowed Illusions
by Molten Saffire
Summary: Whirling shadows. Twirling illusions. Hidden prophecies. A mysterious young girl arrives in Sunnydale, making its inhabitants (Including Spike) quake in fear. Crossover with In the Forest of the Night, by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes. Hopefully S/B in future.
1. Chapter One

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, Angel, or the vampires of In The Forest Of The Night.

Background: The ancient vampires, as I call them, are actually the type of vampires found in the novel In The Forest Of the Night. I don't actually use the vampires from that novel, but I use the type. These vampires all instantly have black eyes and pale skin upon waking the morning after they die. They still have their soul, and gain vampiric strength, magical powers, and the blood lust every vampire does. The need to feed is greatest after they awake for the first time, for to 'turn' another vampire must drain their blood, and then they must drink from that vampire. They can act human, and can go into the sun and everything, but they live for eternity. In my fic, they can only be killed by using a blessed silver dagger, (any other weapon is useless) or by draining their blood. The story takes place before Smashed, and Ænette is my character.

A/N: This is my first Buffy fic (I usually write anime) so bare with me here.

""-Speaking

''-Thoughts

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-Change scene

Shadowed Illusions

Written by Molten Saffire

In England…

 "The pain, the darkness. It's eating her alive. The fire, her old flame, gone, completely gone, with no way to get it back..."Ænette hesitated, her 15 year-old- body still tired from last night's fight. "Buffy's not going to make it without help, Giles. Go back, please, or at least let me go back in your place."

"She needs to do this without me. She won't learn any other way... She needs to stop depending on me so heavily. One day I'm not going to be around for her to lean on, and I want to make sure she can handle things by herself," Giles answered as he went around fixing the room.

Ænette fumed silently, cursing the slayer's friends for messing with fate. "Why'd they have to bring her back, anyways? Why couldn't they just leave well enough alone?" She asked the ex-watcher, her voice bitter, fury in her eyes.

Giles looked at her, for the first time since he arrived five days ago, about to say something, when he noticed the lightening in her eyes. Her dark, dark eyes. Demonic, black eyes, and her pale skin, with blood-red lips.

"So…when'd you become a vampire?" Giles asked languidly, turning his back on her and returning to his work.

Ænette's eyes widened, sharp fear and shame replacing her fury.

"I had hoped you wouldn't notice," she answered, her voice laced with terror. "No one else has."

"When, Ænette?" Giles demanded.

"Last night, at the club. I was going after a vampire, and next thing I knew I was surrounded. It was a trap. I woke up dead this morning."

"So now you, a witch, the greatest of your generation, sworn hunter of the night, trained by the best of the best, reincarnation of one of the greatest witches that ever lived…"

"I know it's bad," the demon cut him off hurriedly. "I know, I know. But at least I still have my soul. At least I still have my memories. At least I was caught by one of the ancient ones, and not by one of the common ones found in every graveyard."

"What about the blood lust? That remains the same in every vampire. I wouldn't be surprised if you killed an innocent this morning. The blood lust is greatest after a new vampire wakes up. Of course, you probably already knew that."

Those words cut. Cut deeply, and Ænette had to fight her rising anger, anger that was rising with terrifying velocity, as well as the need within her to feed.

"I haven't fed yet," she answered her mentor coldly. "My powers are still intact, and I weaved a spell-"

"How long will that last? How long until your energy runs out and the need to kill returns stronger than ever?"

"I'll deal with that when it comes, Giles." Ice instantly coated the windows. "Right now I'm going to Sunnydale. If you're not planning to help the slayer, I am."

"She'll kill you," Giles turned towards the young girl, the young girl he had watched grow up, containing an insatiable curiosity about demons, and a fire within her that rivaled Buffy's. That was probably why he had begun to care for Buffy more that a watcher should in the first place, why his heart began to look at her almost as his daughter, and not his charge. Buffy reminded him a little bit of Ænette, and although Ænette wasn't his child, she and Buffy were the closest things he had to a daughter.

"She doesn't know how," Ænette told him, the child he once knew hard to see through the coldness in the creature standing before him.

The child he once knew was gone, and he knew it wasn't from the changing. She was now cold, the fire replaced with ice. She was tired of fighting, tired of living simply to fight, and he knew it. He knew it, and he knew there was nothing he could do about it.

"Go, then, if you wish. Go to Sunnydale. Go off riding to your final death. I always knew you'd die early, such was the life you chose, but I didn't know you'd die willingly. Go, then Ænette, but I warn you, don't come back, because I'll be waiting." He turned his back on her for the last time.

"Fine then, if that's what you wish." With that, she swept out the door, fighting the tears ready to cascade down her face. Once out, she vanished, only to reappear within her room, to pack her clothes and a few weapons.

'I'll be back one day, Giles, and I swear, the next time I see you I'll rip your heart out.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In Sunnydale…

"You're bloody right I won't," Spike growled at Xander through slatted eyes. 

"It's just a party. You know, one of those 'let's get together and try not to kill each other in the process' type of thing." 

"Look, I appreciate your invitation, I really do, but there is no way in heaven or hell I'm gonna wear a _suit_ just to join you guys at some stupid, boring, cocktail party."

"Fine, but don't expect me to do any explaining for you," Xander responded with a twinkle in his eye. "If you're not going to Buffy's party, you can do all the explaining yourself."

"Are you trying to tell me this bloody party's Buffy's idea?"

"Not exactly, but the party is for her. Every one's going to be there. Even Angel's going…" He said the last line slowly, trying to evoke some sort of feeling from the bleached vampire. When he got nothing, he went for another approach. "C'mon, are you just going to let Angel get ahead of you when it comes to Buff?"

"I thought you didn't like the idea of the Slayer and Big Bad together." 

"I don't. You, Buffy. Won't work." Now he was nervous.

"Uh huh. Then you won't mind telling me why I should not let Angel get ahead of me when it'll never work."

"Look, just go, okay?" He walked towards the door of Spike's crypt. "Party's in a week, be there." He left in a flash.

"Party's in a week, be there," Spike mimicked Xander's departing words. 'I must really be an idiot to even think about going.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In England…

Ladarius paced around the room, his cape swishing around him.

"Where is she!?" he demanded of the common vampires in the room, cowering down on the ground in fear.

"Sir," one particularly pale and shivering vampire approached him. "She's gone. She's not in the country. We've searched everywhere. It's like she just vanished."

"As powerful as that girl is, she's not apt to 'just vanish' off the face of the earth! Find her!" he yelled at the vampire, grabbing his shirt and tossing him to the other side of the room. 

"Sir," another vampire entered the room, paling as he saw his compainion lying in a heap unconsiuos. "We have word of Ænette's whereabouts. She is said to be in Sunnydale, California.The public high school there has her records. It appears she has decided to continue her education." Having delivered his message, the vampire bowed, leaving the room quickly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In Sunnydale…

Ænette nervously walked through the door at Willie's, not sure how the demon population would react to her, or if they had even heard of her. It was said the demon residents at Sunnydale were a type all their own.

She smiled, more confident of herself, as she began to feel all eyes on her, some nervous, fearful, others even getting up and leaving, paying more than they had meant to. 'So, Sunnydale's residents have heard of the Seven Shadows after all.' She also felt the other, more confident eyes, looking over her young, seemingly innocent body, not noticing the shadows wrapping around her dark form, or the dangerous predator within. She smiled invitingly to a particular demon at one table, before turning around and going towards the counter just as he had begun to stand, laughing to herself.

She took a seat at an unoccupied seat at the counter, loving the way her dark, knee-length blue skirt moved up her thighs as she sat down, her tight, navy blue tank top revealing just as much as it was hiding.

"New in town?" The bartender asked as he made his way towards her. "Sunnydale's not the place for little girls."

"Then it's a good thing I'm not a little girl, isn't it?" Ænette answered softly, thunder laced with her voice.

"I suppose so," The bartender said uneasily, finally getting the hint that this was one girl that was not to be messed with. "What'll it be?"

"Blood," she answered, ignoring the gasps going around the room. "Human blood."

"Coming right up," the bartender replied before turning towards the backroom to get the blood.

"Sooo, the little angel decided to run away to the happy little town of Sunnydale." A haughty, grating voice proclaimed behind Ænette. "How quaint. And utterly predictable."

"Go away Ladarius. I don't have time to listen to your chatter tonight," Ænette ground out, annoyed.

"Now what kind of a greeting is that for an old friend?" he asked, taking the seat next to her.

"You were never my friend," she retaliated scathingly. "Although I can't really argue about the old part." She added after a little thought. "You are getting a little ancient."

Ladarius opened his mouth to retaliate, when Ænette took a look at the clock on the wall. "Sorry to keep this little visit short, Ladarius," she said, her voice filled with venom, "but I have more important appointments to keep." 

She vanished without another word, leaving an enraged Ladarius paying for her drink.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In LA…

"Now Angel…" Wesley was saying before getting cut off by the ringing of the phone. Angel picked it up quickly; too quickly in fact, just to get away from the conversation he knew was coming.

"Hello, Angel speaking."

"Angel, thank God," a British accent exclaimed through the phone.

"Giles?" Angel asked, surprised.

"Yes, its me. I'm afraid I have a slight problem."

"What is it? Maybe we can help," Angel asked, leaning casually on the filing cabinets.

"Yes…well, I hope so. You see, there's this young girl around here…she was considered a pet of the Council," Giles began hesitantly.

"The council has pets?" Angel asked, incredulous.

"Yes, well, they have one. She's a young girl. Not human, really, but she seems to be. They say she's a Shadow, although they have never bothered to find out exactly what that is. She's their assassin; she does anything they ask her to, or at least it seems that way. While looking around her room I found a few things that the Council definitely don't know about, though it's genius how she hid it from them-"

"And how does this relate to us?" Angel interrupted, as Giles was stuck in his own thoughts.

"Oh, right. Well, she was recently changed into a vampire and I belive she's gone to Sunnydale. She's taken an interest to Buffy, and-"

"Wait…Buffy? Why'd she take an interest in her? Is she in danger?" 

"As far as I know, Buffy's not in any danger, but I can't be sure. Ænette killed the last two slayers before her, on the Council's orders, but…Anyways, I was hoping you could go to Sunnydale and search for her. I would have asked Buffy, but Ænette and I are not on friendly terms, and she would have found out if I tried to contact anyone from Sunnydale." 

"So you want me to find this girl, and…" 

"Convince her to return to England. Do it in any way you can. The council wants their pet back." Giles finished for him. 

"What will happen to her when she gets back?" Angel asked, not liking the sound of how the council had treated her.

"Unfortunately, she will be punished for her disobedience. She has committed four offences. Her first offence is allowing herself to be turned into a vampire. The second offence she committed was leaving England without the Council's permission. The third is making friends, the fourth consorting with unseemly beings."

"Well, wouldn't she be safer here then? The Council isn't exactly known for being fair."

"She's not human, Angel, and she never has been." Giles responded in a tone Angel never heard from him before. "Now she's a vampire on the loose, with knowledge of all the Council's plans. Putting everything else aside, she's a bloodthirsty vampire now, and she deserves to burn at the stake. Get her back here. I don't care if she's half-dead and insane, just get her back here alive with the ability to feel pain." A slam was heard on the other side of the phone, and all Angel heard afterwards was a dial tone.

 "Wesley, Cordelia, we have another case. We're leaving for Sunnydale sunset tomorrow." He yelled into the office before escaping with his thoughts.

 They were going to Sunnydale. After what he'd heard, Angel didn't like the sound of bringing this girl to England, even thought she was a vampire, and probably soulless. He would go to Sunnydale, see what's so interesting about this partiular vampire, dust her properly, and tell Giles that she was killed by the Slayer during one of her rounds.

No one deserved the torture the Council was planning to give their little 'pet'.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In Sunnydale…

Buffy stormed into the Bronze, intent on finding Dawn.

"Where the Hell is she! She is sooo dead when I find her," Buffy was seething out loud, taking a look around, along with Anya and Xander. Spike, on the other hand, was looking at something else. 

"Hey, Slayer," The bleached vampire shouted to get her attention. Buffy whirled towards him, her eyes slanted. 

"What is it, Spike?" Her voice plainly said 'this had better be important'. 

"Since when have vampires been shy? There seems to be a little segregation here," Spike replied to her question nonchalantly.

"Now is not the time for jokes, Spike," an enraged Slayer ground through her teeth.

Spike raised his eyebrow, looking her strait in the eye. "Just sayin', there are usually vampires all over this place, but tonight they seem to be keeping to one side. Now why do you think that is, Slayer?"

"It's probably just because of that Shadow talking to Dawn over there. Y'know, Shadows are scary stuff," Anya said, noticing their conversation. "Even scarier than bunnies."

"Yeah right, like a Shadow would come here, unless…" Spike took a look at where Anya was looking, seeing Dawn talking to a girl her age with black hair and a striking figure, shadows gathering as she felt his eyes on her. Suddenly she whirled around, her eyes fixed on Spike, Dawn paling slightly when she saw them.

"Bloody Hell," Spike whispered as the two walked towards them, Dawn reluctantly, the other with a purpose, smiling slightly. "I say we leave. Now," he said in a small panic as he began to inch his way towards the entrance.

"We are not leaving without Dawn," Buffy said, holding his arm to keep him from leaving. "I can't believe you're scared of a normal, teenage girl."

"Actually, I'm with Spike on this one," Anya said. "And in case you haven't noticed, that 'normal, teenage girl' is a Shadow."

"Alright, someone explain to me, what exactly is a Shadow?" Xander said. "As far as I know, shadows are those things that follow people around during the day because of lack of light."

"I really don't know, Xander, and at the moment, I really don't care." Buffy replied. "I'm gett-"

"I'm leaving. Get yourself killed, for all I care, but there is no way I'm going to come face to face with a Shadow when I can't fight back." Spike took his arm back from Buffy and walked swiftly out of the Bronze. 

"Kay, that was-"

"Hey Buff," While they were talking, Dawn and her friend had crossed the room. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question, Dawn. You are in soooo much trouble when we get home," Buffy said, taking Dawn aside.

"Hey Dawnie, whose your friend?" Xander asked, looking at the other girl.

"Oh, how rude of me," The girl said softly, yet somehow the words reached all their ears even in the racket. "My name's Ænette. I just transferred to Dawn's school today. Please forgive me. It's my fault Dawn sneaked out tonight. I asked her to take me around the town." She turned towards Anya.

"You look familiar. Do I know you?" She asked a now shaking Anya hanging off Xander's arm.

"No, no, I don't think we've met. I'm just an innocent young woman with a young fiancé and I spend most of my time just staying home and spinning wool." By now she was babbling. "Did I mention I'm an innocent young human, or, umm, woman?" 

Xander patted her arm, trying to calm her, noticing the way Ænette's eyes narrowed at her answer. "Don't mind An'. It's been a long day."

"I'm sure it has," Ænette replied, beginning to walk towards the exit. "I'll see you tomorrow, Dawn. I hope you're not grounded for too long." She walked out of the room, Anya, along with half the room, letting out a held breath.

"O-kay, what was that about?" Buffy asked, turning towards Anya. "You'd think she was a killer or something."

"Actually, she is," Anya said, color coming back to her face. "I've heard of Ænette. She's the Council's assassin."

"Wait wait wait, are you trying to tell me _Ænette_ is a trained killer?" Dawn said, trying hard not to laugh. "She is such a nerd. She's one of those students with a 4.0 grade point average and a teacher's pet. All she did all day was read. She didn't even eat lunch!" She was all out laughing now. "I only came here as a dare. Meghan bet me 20 bucks that I would fall asleep while talking to her. I mean, did you even see what she was wearing? Brown pants with a light purple shirt? She wasn't even wearing make-up! That girl seriously needs some help."

"That 'nerd' has killed two Slayers in the last 15 years. In fact, that's her job, to get rid of Slayers and other people that work for the Council that they get tired of."

By now, Buffy was heading towards the entrance, dragging a snickering Dawn with her.

"Honey, she was just a normal girl," Xander tried to tell Anya. "You could've been wrong."

"Oh, alright, I get the message. I'll stop," She replied, a little sharp. "But don't blame me if she kills you." She said while walking out of the Bronze.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'I seriously need to change out of these clothes. God, the things a girl does to manipulate people,' Ænette thought to herself as she walked into an alley, planning to use magic to change.

A shadow suddenly stepped in front of her, blocking her path. 'Ladarius' Ænette seethed silently. "Go away Ladarius," she bitterly cried, not bothering to look up, walking pass him. A hand roughly grabbed her arm. "I said g-" she stops mid sentence as her eyes make contact with a stranger's, his eyes telling her exactly what he wanted. Her.

Her body tensed, and began to quiver slightly with fear. 'I can't fight him!" her traitorous mind told her, 'no matter what he does, the consequences for fighting a human, even for self-defense…'

She was knocked out of her reverie as the he shoved her to the wall. She gave a small gasp as he proceeded to hold her hands up over her head with one hand, pinning the rest of her to the wall with his body. 

Her heartbeat quickened.

He smiled.

"Now we're gonna have some fun tonight, little girl," he whispered in her ear, silencing her small whimper with a wet, slimy kiss, his hand roaming the rest of her body.

The rest was just instinct.

She twisted her body, up and over, her hands released from his grip, her legs kicking him straight in the face. Blood trickled down his mouth. A wild buzz went through her body, almost making her double over in pain, the Powers That Be warning her not to fight any further. 'To Hell with the technicalities,' she thought rebelliously as he proceeded to walk towards her, blocking the only way out. 

"So you wanna play rough, do ya?" he said as he backhanded her. She blocked his hand and broke his nose, the electricity now running within her making her fall to the ground in pain.

"Ow, my nose! Why you little bitch," he screamed as he kicked her harshly. He began to give her a torrent of kicks, blood pouring out of her mouth and nose.

She clamped her mouth down to keep from making any noise, and succeeded, until he pulled her up by the hair, his hand revealing a knife. She gave a scream, which was quickly stifled by his mouth.

Her eyes widened. 

He just smiled.

"You've been a bad girl, haven't you?" He said as the knife traced its way down her cheek, blood welling up where it touched her skin.

Tears poured down her face, fear radiating in waves from every pore on her body.

"Now, I'm gonna take my hand off, and you're not gonna scream, o-kay?" he said threateningly.

Ænette nodded, panicked.

He proceeded to take his hand off. 

"HELP!" She shrieked into the air, once again cut off by his hand.

"I thought I told you not to make a peep," he growled at her.

"Why don't you just leave her alone?" The Slayer's voice cut through the air. 

He turned towards her voice, leaving Ænette in a crumpled heap.

"Why don't you make me?" He replied invitingly.

"Gladly," she said, kicking him to the ground, knocking him unconscious.

Dawn ran towards Ænette, who was leaning against the wall for comfort. "O my God, Ænette, are you o-kay?" Dawn asked. "Do you need any help getting home?"

"I'm fine," she replied scathingly. "I don't need your help."

"That wasn't how it looked a few minutes ago," Buffy told Ænette. She turned towards Dawn. "Anya and Xander are getting the car." She turned back towards Ænette. "We need to get you home. Sunnydale just isn't safe at night."

"She's coming home with me, Slayer," Ladarius appeared behind Buffy.

A small growl emitted from Ænette's throat. "The Hell I am, Ladarius," she spit out at him. "The only way I'm coming home with you is either dead or in pieces."

He just laughed. "You mean like last time?"

Power engulfed her body, burning rage healing her wounds. Her clothes changed into a black shirt and pants, the masculine clothes somehow looking feminine on her. Dawn backed away in surprise. Ænette pushed past Buffy, facing Ladarius, read to fight.

"Come and get me, witch," he said tauntingly.

Her self-control broke.

She lunged at him, pulling back as he dodged her punches. Their movement was like a dance, each blocking the other's moves, neither getting in any hits.

Buffy watched in wonder, having already told Dawn to leave. She wasn't sure what to do. If she interfered she risked getting beaten to a pulp. 'Their fight reminds me of the fights Spike and I had,' she thought wistfully. She shook her head to chase the thought away. Taking a deep breath, she pulled Ænette out of the fray, knocking Ladarius off balance.

"Don't interfere, Slayer," He growled at her. "She belongs to me."

Ænette snorted. "You wish."

His head whipped towards her. "Don't –"

"You're both coming home with me, and the explanation I get had better be good," Buffy interrupted. Ænette paled. "What if we don't want to come with you?" She asked quietly.

"You're either both coming with me, or not going anywhere at all."

"Fine." Ænette said meekly.

Ladarius arched an eyebrow at her behavior. "Fine with me."

A/N: Y'know I just noticed I have a hard time sticking to one story if no one else takes interest in it. I mean, I write it in my mind, create the plot, but I don't ever put it on paper. Maybe if enough people reviewed to assure me I have captured their interest…Hmm, interesting concept.


	2. Chapter Two

Disclaimer: Last time I checked, I don't own Buffy, Angel or Amelia Atwater-Rhode's world. Pls. tell me if anything changes.

""-Speaking

''-Thoughts

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - Change Scene

A/N: Sorry, sorry, sorry! I know it's been nearly forever since I updated anything. Well, I'm back, and the next chapter is here. Oh, and I changed my mind; I am going to use the vampires from In The Forest Of The Night.

Shadowed Illusions 

Written by Molten Saffire

Chapter 2

On the road to Sunnydale…

"So you're telling me Giles thinks this girl deserves to be tortured?" Cordelia asked Angel from the backseat. 

"That's what it sounded like," Angel answered from the driver's seat. "But what I don't understand is why a newly turned vampire would travel half-way across the world for curiosity. It just doesn't make sense."

"Well, Ænette always was a bit peculiar as a human, perhaps her being a Shadow affects her personality as a vampire," Wesley suggested from the front passenger seat.

"You actually met her?" Cordelia asked. "What's with the whole 'pet' business, then?"

Wesley hesitated. "We had much preferred calling her the Council's Assassin, but yes, she was considered a 'pet' of sorts."

"Man, how can a human become a 'pet'?' Gunn asked from behind Angel.

"Well, we didn't exactly consider her a human," Wesley tried to explain. "She's had weird powers from infancy, melting into a shadow-form, and such. As a child, she claimed to be something called a Shadow. We never tried to find out exactly what that was, but we logically assumed she wasn't human."

"Besides killing off unwanted Slayers, what exactly was this 'pet' for?" Angel asked while trying to concentrate on both the road and the conversation.

"Well, basically she was treated as a slave. At first she was just an assassin, and yes, she occasionally killed off Slayers my colleagues deemed unable to perform their job any longer. After Buffy refused to serve the Council, however, the Council took it out on the poor girl, and soon her job encompassed doing anything a member of the Council demanded. Punishments were given for insubordination,' Wesley told them. "Personally I didn't agree with quite a few of the orders."

"Like what?" Gunn asked.

"Well, for instance one of the more prestigious members of the Council had tried to force himself on the girl. That was one of the few times she vehemently refused to comply to an order.'

"What was her punishment?" Cordelia asked, grimacing at the thought of ever being in that situation.

"I never did find out what her punishment was, but I know it lasted for quite a while. Her screams subsided after seven days," Wesley answered sadly. "After that ordeal, she couldn't talk for two months. It was said she had permanently ripped her vocal chords with screaming, but after two months she was able to talk again."

"Wow," Cordelia said as the car turned into the driveway of a mansion Angel had secretly bought two years ago. "That girl's got it almost as bad as I do."

Thoughtful silence met her statement.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ænette and Ladarius followed Buffy out of the alley and to the car where Dawn, Anya, and Xander were waiting for them. Anya paled considerably, going into the car and locking the door. Ænette raised her eyebrow.

"Probably just a little cold," Xander explained. "I'll just go see if she want some company. Turning towards the now locked door, Xander talked to his fiancée for a few minutes before she relented to unlock the door for him. He took a seat in the back next to her, trying to make her see reason.

"Umm, Ænette and Ladarius are coming home with us," Buffy explained to Dawn. "The two of them have some explaining to do."

"Fine with me," Dawn said.

"Ænette's sleeping in your room tonight," Buffy continued. Dawn's eyes went wide with fury. She was just about to open her mouth to protest, but Buffy said, "No arguments."

"Fine," Dawn replied, this time angrily. She stomped towards the card, slamming the door closed and sliding in with Xander and Anya in the back.

Ænette winced at the sound. Ladarius watched her acutely, noticing something was terribly wrong.

They both got into the front seat with Buffy, Ænette choosing the window seat, Ladarius settling for the middle seat.

 *What was that little show out there for, Anique?* Ladarius sent the message silently to Ænette's mind as soon as the car began to move.

*Don't call me that,* Ænette sharply mind spoke back.

*Why not? Ænette is dead,* Ladarius countered as the car turned the corner onto another street.

"I am not dead, Ladarius!" she replied quite loudly out loud, forgetting where she was. 

The tiny bit of chitchat in the back seat was instantly quieted. Tense silence thickened over the car, before Xander, a little late, tried to cheer everyone up. "Well, now that that's affirmed, why don't we all go out for ice cream?" Xander said cheerily, trying to brighten the mood. After a brief silence, though, Xander himself subsided, for once, having nothing to say.

Ænette could hear Ladarius's laughter in her mind. *Ænette is dead, and you know it. Aubrey named you Anique. That's your name now, whether you like it or not,* Ladarius forced through her mind. Ignoring the other's glances, Ænette turned away from Ladarius and looked out of the window. The rest of the ride was made in tense silence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The door slammed shut behind Ænette and Ladarius, making Ænette wince once more. 

*What the Hell is wrong with you?* Ladarius asked her. Her noticed through the connection that her mental walls, usually strong, were now beginning to collapse. Seeing his chance, he tore through them, granting a small cry from Ænette. Darkness surrounded her as she collapsed into his arms. Her vision blurred as Ladarius began to swear profusely, Buffy and Dawn quickly running over and snatching her from the now enraged vampire.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Home sweet home," Gunn said as the door slammed shut behind him. "So, how long are we staying?"

"Long enough to see what's going on," Angel answered for him, throwing him another piece of luggage to carry upstairs. "All the bedrooms are on the second floor. Gunn, you turn to your left, and it's the second door on your right. Wesley, your room is right across from his. Cordelia, from the staircase you turn to your right, it's the last door on your left. My room is right across yours." Turning away from his friends her walked up to his room.

"Cordelia," Wesley started, "I don't think its wise for you to have the room across from Angel. Why don't we switch-"

"Why, is something gonna happen to me in the middle of the night that you would be better prepared to handle that silly old me?" Cordelia asked. "I'll be fine. There's nothing to worry about. No monsters, no demons, except for Angel of course, but we don't have to worry about him," She continued before going up to her own room.

"Angel is exactly what I'm worried about," Wesley said out loud as he and Gunn trudged up to their own rooms.

"Don't worry about it. Cordelia can take care of herself. And let's face it, we've never exactly been able to force that girl to do something she doesn't want to do, I mean, when it comes to fighting monsters. If she doesn't like Angel, he doesn't have a chance," Gunn said, trying to stifle Wesley's worries.

"Ahh, but if she does like him, we're in a whole bunch of trouble, aren't we?" Wesley said as he entered his room.

Shaking his head, Gunn entered his room and closed the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_Ænette woke to find herself in complete darkness. Instead of a soft bed, the floor was beneath her. She tried to get up, only to find that there was a wall blocking her way. Groping with her hands, she found one wall, then another, and another, enclosing her in. _

_Her breaths came in short gasps now. She knew where she was. Whoever had caught her had put her there. Worst of al, she couldn't remember anything, not her name, her birth date, she couldn't seem to remember what she was, or is. There was only fog in her mind, a thick fog she couldn't get through. _

_All she knew was that she wasn't exactly what she was when she went to sleep last night. All she knew was that, and that she was buried underground. _

_Ænette began to scream._

She sat up in bed screaming, relieved to find soft covers around her, and a mattress beneath her. The room wasn't familiar to her, but then she realized she was in Dawn's room. Her thought was confirmed when Dawn came up to her, worried. 

"What's wrong?" She asked, pity in her voice. 

Ænette couldn't stand pity.

"Nothing," Ænette snapped at her. "I'm going for a walk."

"Wait, you can't do that," Dawn told her as Ænette got up and started heading for the door. "You're not allowed to leave the house."

"Watch me," Ænette challenged as she slammed the door in Dawn's face.

She jumped to the bottom of the stairs, the simple task she used to be able to do easily giving her a sudden headache. 'What is wrong with me?' she thought to herself. 'Am I getting sick? No, that's not possible, unless…' finally, the answer came to her. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to control her rage, fear, and a hundred other emotions that went through her. She hadn't fed yet. That had to be it. Ladarius had kept her from getting her blood at the bar. She hadn't fed yet, and soon it'll be too late to hunt. 

Dawn came down the stairs after her, surprised to find her standing there with her eyes closed.

"Ok, I know something's wrong. What is it?" 

"Go away." Ænette sounded pissed.

"Not until you give me an answer." Dawn answered, standing her ground.

"This doesn't concern you."

"Like I care. I want to know."

Ænette growled at her, putting her hand to Dawn's throat and pushing her to the wall almost hard enough to break a few of her bones.

"What are you?" Blurted out of Dawns mouth before she could think about what she was saying. Ænette hesitated.

While she was thinking of an answer Ladarius and Buffy came out of the kitchen.

Buffy instantly tried to go to her sister's defense, but Ladarius restrained her with his arms, instantly overpowering the surprised Slayer.

"Let me go!" Buffy cried out uselessly. Ladarius covered her mouth with his hand.

*Shh,* Ladarius's voice was in her mind. *Don't fight her. That won't solve anything and will make the bloodlust worse.* Buffy's eyes widened at the mention of bloodlust. 

*I can stop her, but you have to trust me,* Ladarius went on. *Ænette's lost control, otherwise I know she wouldn't do this.*

*How do I know I can trust you?* Buffy thought, knowing somehow that he could hear her.

*You don't.* he simply stated. *But if you go at this wrong, more than your sister's life will be lost tonight. If you do this my way, no one will get hurt,* By now he was getting annoyed with having to deal with the Slayer, and more than a little of that annoyance was in his voice. *You do nothing, and I'll get Ænette under control. Do we have a deal, Slayer?*

*If my sister dies I will hunt you down to the ends of the earth, and give both you and Ænette the most painful death I can think of,* Buffy answered. Taking that as a yes, Ladarius let her go, only to take some wire out of his pocket and tying her down in a chair. He put a gag in her mouth to keep her from talking. *Just to make sure,* He told her. 

*Damn you,* she answered.

He just laughed. *Your wish is my command.* Forgetting her, he turned towards Ænette.

"Ænette," He called out, the living room still between them.

"What is it," she growled out. 

"Let the girl go." He commanded her.

"I wasn't planning on doing anything to her, Ladarius. I'm just teaching her a lesson." She said quite calmly as she let Dawn go. Dawn immediately ran to her sister and began to untie her.

Ænette glared at Ladarius. "Next time you try to tell me what to do, I'm going to rip your throat out," She ground out slowly, her eyes flashing red with anger.

He just glared back at her.

Before either of them knew it, the Slayer had Ænette pinned to the wall, a stake at her heart.

"Give me one good reason not to kill you right here and now," Buffy said into her ear.

In answer, Ænette's body dissolved into shadows, only to reappear behind Buffy. Dawn gasped. Ladarius smirked, leaning onto the wall.

Glaring at him, she took a hold of Buffy's arm before the Slayer could attack her again. The two disappeared in a blink of an eye.

"Wh-Where'd they go?" Dawn asked Ladarius, who just smirked again.

"Las Noches, New Mayhem. Don't worry, your sister will be safe, as long as she's smart enough not to start anything, that is," he answered her, before actually turning away from the spot Buffy and Ænette were and towards her.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" he asked her.

"Please. I can't go to bed now." 

He raised an eyebrow. "I suppose I'm your babysitter until they return." He thought half to himself, half to Dawn.

"I don't need a babysitter. I can take care of myself," Dawn argued.

"That's what Ænette always said. Unfortunately, I've learned from experience that a fifteen-year-old girl should never be left on their own. If it helps, we don't necessarily have to stay here. Know any vampire clubs in the area?" he asked her.

"No, but I do know where we could go," Dawn said, putting her jacket on. "C'mon. If I have to stay with you, at least hurry up."

He smiled, half with amusement, half with annoyance. Teenagers. No matter what the species, always the same.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Opening her eyes, Buffy was startled to see Ænette peering over her. Acting on instinct, Buffy pushed the girl away and into a wall. Fortunately, Ænette managed to twist her body into an almost impossible position and landed cleanly on her feet.

Buffy immediately jumped to her feet and got into a fighting stance. Her mind, a little dazed from whatever transpired to get her here, finally came crashing back to her. Buffy was shocked to see she had landed in a bar. The strobe lights beat heavily into her, colors changing every few minutes. Every mirror in the place seemed to be cracked into thousands of pieces, yet not a shard fell out of place. A bar filled with different colored bottles filled one side of the room, and surprisingly, no bartender came into Buffy's view. Her body filled with fear as her Slayer sense came into action, telling her, quite blatantly, that not only was she far away from home, but she was also surrounded by the deadliest vampires she has ever had to face.

Looking to the only familiar face around, she asked Ænette the question that was screaming in her mind.

"Where the Hell am I?" she ground out, not bothering to get out of her fighting stance. Ænette hadn't exactly proved herself safe.

"Las Noches," Ænette replied calmly, brushing off some dust from the short black skirt that had replaced her pants. Her black top had also disappeared, only to be replaced by a swirling red halter-top.

Ænette smiled at her, the smile not quite reaching the coldness in her eyes. "Welcome to my world, Slayer."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dawn knocked on the door once more, ignoring the blatantly amused looks from the annoyingly warm vampire. Glaring at Ladarius, Dawn kicked the door open, revealing a highly annoyed blond vampire. A blond vampire that was engrossed in a book, no less.

"Bloody…'bit, next time you want to come in, can you please knock first?" Spike asked, startled, not looking up from his book.

"We did knock, William. Twice." Ladarius stated in a cold voice, cutting off Dawn before she could comment with a piercing glare. 

Spike's head whipped around at the sound of Ladarius's voice. Surprise splayed across his face for a moment, quickly replaced by hatred. "Well, look who came a knockin'," Spike growled in his game face. "Long time no see, Lazarus. I thought you died a long time ago. No matter. I can easily remedy that little mistake." 

With that, Spike, lunged at Ladarius, blind to the teenage girl getting between the two vampires, trying to remedy the situation.

A/N: Pls. R/R. I know it's been a while, but your reviews help. 


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